Rather than recycling, Vilas Pol shares how plastic waste can be easily upcycled into valuable carbon spheres and nanotubes.
Prof. Vilas G. Pol is an Associate Professor at Purdue University’s School of Chemical Engineering. Prior to Purdue, Prof. Pol worked as a Material Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory focusing on improving electrode materials and designing their surface architecture for superior, long lasting rechargeable batteries. He now leads a research team dedicated to advancing the current state of commercial energy storage technology. One of his key research projects focuses on upcycling plastic bags and packing peanuts into carbon spheres and carbon nanotubes as anode electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries. Prof. Pol’s extensive scientific breakthroughs have been featured in many media outlets including New Scientist, Discovery, Popular Science, Smithsonian, USA Today, Forbes, ABC7 news, and Asia TV. In 2015, Prof. Pol and team were recognized by the R&D 100 Awards (Oscars of Invention) for their work on ‘Versatile Hard Carbon Microspheres Made from Plastic Waste’.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
About TEDx
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)
This talk is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
